This invention relates, generally, to the use and structure of removable electronic circuit cards having different mechanical and/or electrical interfaces, and, more specifically, to the use of non-volatile memory cards according to the related MultiMediaCard (“MMC”) and Secure Digital (“SD”) Memory Card interfaces and cards having an interface according to a standard of the International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”), an example being the ISO/IEC 7816 standard.
The physical and electrical specifications for the MMC are given in “The MultiMediaCard System Specification” that is updated and published from time-to-time by the MultiMediaCard Association (“MMCA”) of Cupertino, Calif. Versions 2.11 and 2.2 of that Specification, dated June 1999 and January 2000, respectively, are expressly incorporated herein by this reference. MMC products having varying storage capacity up to 64 megabytes in a single card are currently available from SanDisk Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif., assignee of the present application. These products are described in a “MultiMediaCard Product Manual,” Revision 2, dated April 2000, published by SanDisk corporation, which Manual is expressly incorporated herein by this reference. Certain aspects of the electrical operation of the MMC products are also described in co-pending patent applications of Thomas N. Toombs and Micky Holtzman, Ser. Nos. 09/185,649 and 09/186,064, both filed Nov. 4, 1998, and assigned to SanDisk Corporation. The physical card structure and a method of manufacturing it are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,622, assigned to SanDisk Corporation. Both of these applications and patent are also expressly incorporated herein by this reference.
The newer SD Card is similar to the MMC card, having the same size except for an increased thickness that accommodates an additional memory chip. A primary difference between them is that the SD Card includes additional data contacts in order to enable faster data transfer between the card and a host. The other contacts of the SD Card are the same as those of the MMC card in order that sockets designed to accept the SD Card will also accept the MMC card. The electrical interface with the SD card is further made to be, for the most part, backward compatible with the MMC product described in version 2.11 of its specification referenced above, in order that few changes to the operation of the host need be made in order to accommodate both types of card.
Cards made according to the ISO/IEC 7816 standard are of a different shape, have surface contacts in different positions, and a different electrical interface than the MMC and SD Cards. The ISO/IEC 7816 standard has the general title of “Identification cards-Integrated Circuit(s) Cards with Contacts,” and consists of parts 1–10 that carry individual dates from 1994 through 2000. This standard, copies of which are available from the ISO/IEC in Geneva, Switzerland, is expressly incorporated herein by this reference. ISO/IEC 7816 cards are particularly useful in applications where data must be stored in a secure manner that makes it extremely difficult or impossible for the data to be read in an unauthorized manner.
One-general use of the small ISO/IEC 7816 cards is for security against the theft and/or unauthorized use of electronic systems, in which case the card stores a security code personal to the user or the electronic system. A radio installed in a vehicle is one type of electronic system, for example, where a security code personal to the radio needs to be input at times in order for the radio to operate. In one arrangement, circuitry within the radio is provided that renders it inoperable when battery power has be disconnected. Entry of a unique security code is then required to again allow the radio to operate. One way to deliver the security code is to store it on a small ISO/IEC 7816 card and provide a card slot in the radio into which the card is inserted. Circuits are included in the radio to read the code from the card, compare it with a unique code for the particular radio and, if the codes match, re-enable operation of the radio after the battery has been reconnected.